Weird graphics issues: Everything appearing multiple times

[arghdos]

examples:
http://imgur.com/h1eTy.jpg -> #1
http://imgur.com/MdWWb.jpg -> #2

I'm pretty sure #1 is related to my computer (semi) over heating, as it goes away if I let the computer cool down for awhile.
#2 used to go away when I restarted Civ, but recently (this morning) it has remained (even through a system restart).

I've attached dxdiag output, as you can see I have a pretty random graphics card (NVidia Quadro NVS 140M, only exists with thinkpads), so I have no idea where I lie in the minimum-recommended specs range. But I can play L4D2 on low with ~20-25 fps (1280x800), so I assumed Civ would run alright, and it does (minus some slow texture loading, which is fine), other than these two issues.

More info: playing civ on 1280x800 (40Hz), DX11, with all settings on low (or off if it exists). Tried playing with 1024x768 (40Hz), but it didn't make a lick of difference.

 

[GenMarshall]

It looks more like a video card issue if you keep getting artifacts like that. Do you experiance the same kind of artifacts when playing 3D games other than Civ5?

If you start seeing artifacts at boot up (eg: Before the windows load up but during when the BIOS is booting), then the video card has gone bad.

Though I would not recommend using a laptop to be gaming on with games that has extensive graphics like Civ5.

 

[tokala]

Looks like corrupted data min the VRAM. Probably due to overheating and/or power supply stress to its limits

You could try to reduce the frequency of the VRAM with a 3rd-party tool like Rivatuner.

And if it stays, then you have just fried your video card

 

[silentknight111]

Definitely looks like overheating.

 

[arghdos]

Damn, a month after my warranty expired as well.
Well, hopefully my graphics card can hold on for a month or so until I get a new computer. (I wanted to be able to play civ 5 with nice settings anyways).

thanks for the replies.

 

[VenomSeed]

I'm sure this isn't overheating. I get these bugs frequently, whether or not the comp has been running for long. It's seemingly random when they show up, more so when I load a save game for some reason. Either way, they occur about 50% of the time and make the game unplayable. Card runs fine with other games.

I'll post here if I find a solution anywhere.

 

[tokala]

I'm sure this isn't overheating. I get these bugs frequently, whether or not the comp has been running for long. It's seemingly random when they show up, more so when I load a save game for some reason. Either way, they occur about 50% of the time and make the game unplayable. Card runs fine with other games.

I'll post here if I find a solution anywhere.

Then it's just a half-dead video card. Overheating itself is not the issue, usually the card would either shut down or just blow up when seriously pushed beyond its limits. But if you have faulty memory and/or power supply, in same cases those errors will be triggered if components are warming up.

 

[Lamargo]

Your graphics card isn't supported, it's a Quadro. These are for doing CAD on, not playing games, and probably wont have the required cooling and power a gaming card needs. You would need an nVidia GeForce or an ATi Radeon graphics chipset to play the game as it was intended.

Minimum Requirements

 

[Jean Elcard]

I'm getting similar artifacts from time to time and it's not very likely that this is an overheating problem. I don't have any issues like that while playing other games.

The weird thing is, these artifacts are not going away after saving and loading a game. If you ask me this looks exactly like a faulty 3d model.

I'm owning a Geforce 8600 GT btw.

 

[VenomSeed]

For the record, I have an 9800 GT. If it is do to a "failing graphics card" then it's failing only in Civ 5!!

I've posted on the tech support site on the Civ 5 2k site. In 8 hours its been dumped down to the fourth page, but I'll keep track of it and bump until I get a response. Maybe by Christmas.

 

[Old_Man_River__]

I am having problems as well.

 

[Old_Man_River__]

similar issues:



This really isnt fun.... the minimum specs are met. Give me some words of wisdom and if not guess we can just hope these issues will be patched soon.....

 

[VenomSeed]

Looks like this is a problem for quite a few. Just posting to let everyone who has this problem know that I sent all the details to "Ian-tech" on the 2k forums. He replied with thanks for the details I sent about how to reproduce this graphical bug and that he would look into it. I'll update this thread when I find out any further news from him. In the meantime, I might go back to Starcraft 2 because I can actually play that

 

[arghdos]

I've actually had much better success using the direct x 9 version.
(although my card supposedly runs dx11).
Since I've switched to that, I've only had a few graphical hiccups.
(e.g. sometimes I see sheep or ruins fixed to the screen, as in I can move around my view, and they stay in the same spot relative to the view, even showing up in the ocean)

 

[VenomSeed]

I've actually had much better success using the direct x 9 version.
(although my card supposedly runs dx11).
Since I've switched to that, I've only had a few graphical hiccups.
(e.g. sometimes I see sheep or ruins fixed to the screen, as in I can move around my view, and they stay in the same spot relative to the view, even showing up in the ocean)

Directx 9 works more reliably for me too. But overall I'm beginning to think I might just abandon civ for a month and come back later to see if it has come out of "public beta". 2k=fail.

Incidentally, I followed the new advice on the 2k forums from tech support suggesting we should reinstall directx and also do a clean install of the latest nvidia drivers. After doing all that, it didn't make any difference for me. Maybe that will save you some trouble.

 

[VenomSeed]

Just an update.

As far as my problems go, I discovered that by setting "tessellation" to low in dx11 mode, that my crazy graphics problem (similar to the ones displayed in this thread, but occurring within 1 city radius of the initial screen after loading a saved game) disappeared.

Of course, there was then a second layer of graphics problems - namely missing tiles/grey tiles/red tiles appearing randomly over the map. I remembered another thread on here related to that issue and after searching for a while discovered it: disabling AA in dx11 mode fixes this second problem (for me).

So with these two steps I have a "stable" version of the game now playing in dx11. Posted all this incase this helps someone get their problems solved. In my case it was friendly forum posters and not tech support who helped me out, so I hope this makes a difference for someone else in need!

 

[Old_Man_River__]

To add on to that, my problem was fixed by running disk cleanup and defragmenter. This is either really obvious or really desperate but it worked in my case.